Interview: Dan Jurgens on writing Batman Beyond

To start off, would you introduce yourself to the reader and tell them how you got into writing comic books?

I actually started by drawing comics. I was hired by DC to draw WARLORD way back in the very early 80’s and right from the start expressed a desire to write. I pursued that and was eventually given the chance on a title called SUN DEVILS. After that, I created, wrote and drew BOOSTER GOLD and I was off and running.

Where did the idea of Terminal attempting to revive The Joker come from? It’ll sure change things up a lot for Terry.

I’ve always found the idea of the Jokerz to be a very interesting aspect of the Batman Beyond universe. In a way, having dedicated followers of a remarkably evil personality is a pretty twisted concept. So I began to play with the idea that the ultimate reward for the Jokerz would be their idol coming back to life.

We loved the way you told the story of the final fight between The Joker and Batman – where did the inspiration for that come from?

I wanted something a little different and that’s what came to me–and at the same time I wanted the environment to feel different and we haven’t really played around with snow in BB.

At the end of the first issue Terry takes a break from the Cowl to pursue other tactics – will he go on something of a journey of rediscovery to get it back?

I think it’s safe to say that now that we have Terry back, he’ll be wearing the cowl. I think part of the charm of having Terry back is having him in costume as Batman.

And finally, what can we expect to see in future issues of Batman Beyond?

Well, I really can’t give that away, but I’d like to think we have a very major surprise coming over the next issue or two.